Ford announced it has acquired Livio, a Ferndale, Mich.-based company that specializes in developing ways for mobile apps to work in the car.
Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president of Ford Research and Innovation, made the announcement Thursday morning during a conference call with reporters. Mascarenas said Ford was buying Livio for three main reasons: to acquire Livio's team of software developers, to gain access to the company's IP and to promote a single technical standard for in-car apps.
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Livio's technology provides an relatively easy way for developers to port their apps for in-car use. Ford Sync performs a similar function with its AppLink feature, although Mascarenas says Ford would work at combining the two "connectivity solutions" into a single industry standard.
"It's about taking complexity out," Mascarenas said. "For us, standardizing in-vehicle connectivity really helps to ease the burden on content developers because they currently have to great applications using several different vehicle interfaces. A single standard lets them write software more efficiently. [Acquiring Livio] is another step in taking complexity out. It's a great match."
Mascarenas said Ford will continue to run Livio as a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford, and the brand will continue to live on under the Ford umbrella.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, although it is effective immediately. Livio has a total of 11 employees, all of which are now Ford employees.
Image: Ford